[3] It was long believed to be the work of Jean Goujon, but the identity of the sculptor is now considered uncertain, although Benvenuto Cellini, Germain Pilon, Pierre Bontemps, and Ponce Jacquiot [fr] have in turn been suggested.

[3] The ensemble, as engraved in its original location by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau and as shown in a 16th-century drawing at the Louvre, differs from its current form.

[1] Nevertheless, an early 17th-century drawing by Jacques Gentilhâtre in the Library of the Royal Institute of British Architects shows it much as it appears today.

In 1953, the British art historian Anthony Blunt argued that the engraving and the earlier drawing are not independent, and the differences are the result of "the sort of alteration that du Cerceau often made".

Other sculptors have been suggested, including Benvenuto Cellini, Pierre Bontemps, Ponce Jacquiot and especially Germain Pilon.